Infrastructure

Capital Improvement Program

The Capital Improvement Program (CIP) is a planning and budgeting tool that provides information about SAWS' infrastructure needs. It identifies requirements for sustaining, restoring and modernizing the facilities and infrastructure that support water supply and delivery and wastewater collection and treatment in the SAWS service area. It also prioritizes and schedules them for funding and implementation through a multi-year plan.

The CIP supports three core business areas: Water Delivery, Wastewater and Water Resources. The 2018 program totals $391.4 million, broken out as follows:

SAWS will upsize sewer mains in need of increased capacity and rehabilitate or eliminate lift stations that contribute to sanitary sewer overflow. For the 2018 wastewater program, $164.7 million is budgeted specifically for the Sanitary Sewer Improvements Program. SAWS will continue construction on a $38.1 million sewer main rehabilitation in the Eastern sewershed between Seguin Road and Nacogdoches Road that will reduce the frequent sanitary sewer overflows, as well as support growth upstream of the area, rehabilitate a $19 million sewer main along Martinez Creek inside Loop 410, and construct a relief project in the Western sewershed in advance of a major sewer main project around Lackland Air Force Base.
The Wastewater program also includes $51.6 million for the design, rehabilitation and replacement of small and large diameter sewer pipelines, $24.1 million for governmental projects that support City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and TXDOT street, highway, and drainage improvements, and $9.4 million to construct improvements to the Dos Rios Water Recycling Center.

Water Delivery

The SAWS Water Delivery program totals $159.2 million and includes 27 miles of water main replacement. Â The following table shows water projects that were added due to the Mayor Ron Nirenberg's request to improve the water main replacement rate and investment in SAWS water infrastructure.

Water Main Replacement Projects

Water Projects

Amount (millions)

Notes

Boerne Stage Road

$4.9

New project to replace up to 14,000 feet of water main due to repeated main breaks since it was installed in 2007.

Vance Jackson Water Main Replacement

$4.2

Negotiating with design consultant, will be ready for 2018 construction, replace 10,000 feet of water main due to repeated main breaks since 2009.

Water Main Condition Inspection & Replacement

$2.4

Program to assess and replace water mains that are in poor condition, have repeat main breaks, and urgently need to be replaced.

Design a 1.5 mile transmission main from TC #3 pump station to Medical Center to provide redundancy to a critical area.

Replace Loma Linda Tank with Hunt Lane EST Tank

$7.6

1.5 MG storage tank to replace a 60 year old smaller tank and provide additional storage and pressure to PZ4 and meet TCEQ regulations for storage capacity.

Pump Station Rehabilitation Phase 11 â€“ Wurzbach

$21.8

Final design is in progress, Wurzbach PS supplies 79 MGD to northwestern service area along Loop 410. Wurzbach PS is 55 years old and the electrical and control equipment is aging, unsafe, and does not meet current electrical and safety codes.

Total

$47.8

Projects such as Boerne Stage Road, Vance Jackson inside Loop 410, and Pleasanton Road on the south side of SAWS service area, were selected for replacement due to their frequency of main breaks and condition of pipe. SAWS will also continue the inspection and replacement program of small water mains, in poor condition, to mitigate the risk of future main breaks. The 2018 program also includes completing the water transmission main to connect the Micron and Anderson pump stations.

The water production system will see upgrades to primary pump stations in Olmos Basin and on Wurzbach at Loop 410 which are critical pump stations with aging infrastructure that is over 50 years old, and to the LaRosa Pump Station in the former Bexar Met service area, which is approaching 40 years old. Â An additional well will be drilled at the Mission pump station, the expansion of the Turtle Creek No. 3 pump station and water storage tank that serves the Medical Center will be designed, and a new tank on Hunt Lane will replace the Loma Linda tank to meet TCEQ requirements for elevated storage.

The Water Delivery program also includes $22.1 million for governmental projects that support City of San Antonio, Bexar County, and TXDOT street, highway, and drainage improvements.

Water Supply

The 2018 Water Supply program includes $37.1 million to complete the Water Resources Integration Pipeline and fully integrate the H2Oaks water supplies into the SAWS system.

Prioritization of CIP

The overall funding split for the 2018 water production and delivery and the wastewater collection and treatment program is 76% repairs and replacements and 24% additional capacity to support new growth and development.

The 2018 program was developed using a project prioritization process. Projects generated by the CIP stakeholder groups from SAWS’ Treatment, Production, Master Planning, Facilities Engineering, Operations, and Distribution and Collection departments were reviewed and evaluated by a CIP Planning Group consisting of submitting vice presidents, directors and managers from SAWS Engineering and Operations groups. The evaluation and prioritization process addressed the business risk exposure, independent of available funds, by prioritizing the projects as either Mandatory, Critical, or High priority.

CIP Project Prioritization

Mandatory

Critical

High

Loss of life or limb

Legal/Regulatory requirements

High Customer dissatisfaction

Significant mission disruption

Risk of Injury

Legal/Regulatory implications

Customer dissatisfaction

Mission delay

Corporate initiatives

City or State conflicts

Customer dissatisfaction

Needed system improvements

Projects were totaled by dollar amount and compared to the long term funding strategy. The CIP projects were developed using recent cost estimates; SAWS overhead and an inflation factor of 2.8% per year were added to develop the programmed costs for 2018 and future years.Â The 2018 and 5-year CIP project lists were reviewed in detail, final selection was made by SAWS' Executive Management Team and approved by SAWS' Board of Trustees.

The 2018 CIP projects were collected, reviewed, and summarized in SAWS Capital Projects Management System (CPMS), which was brought online in mid-2015. This system streamlines the CIP into an enterprise project management system that increases the efficiency and visibility of the program.

Please note that the Capital Improvement Program project list is subject to change due to funding, project needs, and emergencies.